Divide + Conquer: 40 Sq Meter Studio Apartment Grows Up

In the midst of insanely high housing prices in Tel Aviv, Israel, clients who want to upgrade their living spaces are left with few choices. One client, the owner of a tiny 40 square meter studio, decided to keep her current abode and transform it entirely.

The client wanted to trade in her studio apartment for a one bedroom. Rather than adding walls to divide the space, SFARO Architects added a central command center contained in a cube in the center of the apartment.

The central cube contains storage, a kitchen, a bathroom and the resident’s entertainment gadgets. Sliding doors disappear into the body of the cube when closed and hide its contents when open, letting the resident create different looks for different situations whenever desired.

On either side of the cube are narrow corridors that create a sort of never-ending flow to the living areas. The only walls in the apartment, aside from the central cube, surround the bedroom – but even these can fold or slide out of the way to keep up the effortless flow of the space.

By placing all of the apartment’s functions into one central locations, the architects were able to create a dramatic space that feels much larger than its diminutive 40 square meters.

The renovation turned the small apartment from a studio into a one-bedroom with all of the style and personality of a much larger living space.